Design of Sustainable, High-Performance Building Facades

This article discusses the methods for designing sustainable, high-performance facades, and the necessary steps in ensuring that the environmental factors and energy-efficiency strategies are integrated with the design process. The facade is one of the most significant contributors to the energy budget and the comfort parameters of any building. Control of physical environmental factors (heat, light, sounds) must be considered during the design process, as well as design strategies which improve occupant comfort (thermal, visual, and air quality). High-performance facades need to block adverse external environmental effects and maintain internal comfort conditions with minimum energy consumption, and the location and climate become one of the crucial factors in selecting appropriate design strategies. The article discusses climate-based approaches for designing high-performance facades, characteristics and properties of sustainable facade systems, building performance analysis steps that can assist during the design process, as well as a case study that illustrates how these approaches have been implemented on a real architectural project